A LANDLORD has called time for the final time at a pub near York, after filing for bankruptcy.

Trevor Copeland, 51, closed down the Ship Inn in The Village, Strensall, after running out of beer, but is staying for the time being in the flat upstairs.

He said he had run up debts of almost £60,000, and couldn't get a delivery of beer last week after failing to pay for the previous one.

Today, he blamed his financial meltdown on Enterprise Inns, from whom he leased the premises, saying it had proved impossible to make a profit under their terms.

He claimed that some other landlords before him had also been unable to make a success of the Ship Inn, and claimed the rent had been too high and he had not been given the support he needed.

He also said he was unhappy about the way the company looked after the building.

He had responsibility for matters such as decoration, but the company was responsible for the fabric, including problems such as damp.

But when work had been carried out to tackle the damp problem in January, he had faced a 16 per cent rise in his rent, taking it up to almost £3,000 a month.

"That was the final straw," he said. "I have been here for five-and-a-half years and have struggled to make it pay.

"You need to be able to work 12 or 14 hours a day to have any chance of that.

"I was OK until I had a heart attack a couple of years ago. I used to sell food, cooking it myself, but couldn't do that after the attack."

He said he had tried employing someone to cook the food, but after paying wages it had proved unviable and he had stopped serving food.

He said he had run the pub on a ten-year lease from Enterprise Inns. He had had to buy beer from the company, but without the discount that freehold landlords might enjoy.

Alan Rowley, secretary of York Licensed Victuallers' Association, said there were "a million" different reasons why landlords were finding making a living tougher.

He said: "In any form of sales, your last year's figures are your worst enemy. Breweries have to turn a profit and they have shareholders to keep happy.

"Yes, the rents can be absolutely horrendous. Some city centre pubs could be paying as much as £1,000 a week and at the end of their tenancy they have nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, people's habits are changing. There are many more ways to spend the leisure pound."

A spokeswoman for Enterprise Inns said: "We can confirm that we do not comment on the personal or financial arrangements of any of our licensees."

Updated: 08:46 Saturday, September 10, 2005